Protesters greet Howard in Canada

[Said1]

Seems our Harper has turned into quite the social butterfly.

Protesters greet Howard in Canada

About 150 protesters have given Prime Minister John Howard a rowdy reception at the Canadian parliament.

Waving placards and chanting, the demonstrators - many of them Canadian auto workers - were rallying against Australia's new industrial relations regime.

Mr Howard arrived at the neo-Gothic House of Commons to address a joint sitting of parliament at the invitation of new conservative prime minister Stephen Harper.

Rally organiser Barbara Byers of the Canadian Labour Council said the protesters wanted to warn Mr Harper against adopting similar industrial relations laws.

"I woke up this morning, I was driving to work, and I thought, you know, the three mentors that I can think of for our new prime minister are (former Canadian prime minister) Brian Mulroney, George Bush and John Howard," Ms Byers told reporters.

"And it's almost like Stephen Harper looked in the personal columns and said, 'Can I figure out a mentor with a mean streak and I'll join that group?'

"Because that seems to be what these leaders are doing. They're people with a mean streak against working families."

Mr Howard and his wife Janette received a standing ovation as they entered the chamber of the House of Commons.

He told the parliament that Canada and Australia were kindred nations, with much in common but not as much to do with each other as they should.

"We've even followed different sporting paths," Mr Howard said.

"For reasons that have always escaped my comprehension and understanding, Canadians never embraced cricket.

"And ice hockey is not widely played in Australia. And on that subject , can I congratulate the Edmonton Oilers on reaching the semi-finals. I wish them well as they do battle with those other teams from south of the border," he said to applause.

Mr Howard agreed with Mr Harper that the reason for the relative lack of contact between the countries was that they were so far away from each other.

"But I think, honourable members, that the challenges of the world in the first bit of the 21st century are really going to change that because many of those challenges, I believe, if they are to be effectively responded to, will bring Canada and Australia together as never before in common purpose," he said.

He earned more applause when he talked about how to win the war on terror.

"Terrorism will only be defeated by a combination of strong intelligence, military action where appropriate, and importantly, the spread of democracy, particularly among Islamic countries," he said

Link and Video

 

[Diuretic]

Yay!

Stephen Harper is John Howard's bitch!

Mind you, John Howard is George Bush's bitch! :shocked:

 

[Said1]

Yay!

Stephen Harper is John Howard's bitch!

Mind you, John Howard is George Bush's bitch! :shocked:

Yo. The Fresh Prince of Sussex ain't no one's bioooooootch. Foo.